Top Local and National News Stories category, Page 945
New offices for the hybrid era? Many companies are on board
OMAHA, Neb. — If you build a shiny new office building, will your employees show up to work in it? Many U.S. companies are banking on it because they believe working in person is better for collaboration and training young employees. So even though most employees are still working from...
Greensburg residents lay out pros, cons to planners as update to city development plan starts
Greensburg planners and consultants listened to suggestions from residents Saturday to clear residential blight, improve playgrounds, repair sidewalks, restore old homes and expand downtown redevelopment in round one of an effort to update the city’s 14-year-old development plan. “I think the city could clean up a little better. I know...
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh region hit record high gas prices
Pennsylvania gas prices hit a record high Saturday, according to AAA. The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in the state rose to $4.08, topping the previous high of $4.05 set in June 2008. Officials with AAA said earlier in the week that increases in demand for gas...
Putin says Ukraine’s future in doubt as cease-fires collapse
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised cease-fire in the port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror in the besieged town. With the Kremlin’s rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve...
Western Pennsylvanians from Ukraine tell their stories
Tears. Helplessness. Heartache. Nightmare. Denial. These are some of the reactions from people of Ukraine living in Western Pennsylvania when they heard about the military assault on Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. They’ve spent the past 11 days seeing videos and photographs documenting the destruction of their...
Contractor charged after Kiski Township woman accuses him of cashing $16K check, failing to finish work
Kiski Township police filed felony charges against a contractor after a property owner accused him of cashing a $16,000 check for work in August 2020 and not completing the project. David Lynn Patton, 67, of Limestone Township, Clarion County, was charged with felony counts of theft by deception and failing...
Victims identified who died in separate crashes Wednesday in Allegheny County
A White Oak man and a Carnegie woman were killed Wednesday in separate vehicle accidents. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims last Friday. • John D. Semenko, 59, died Wednesday, March 2 in an area hospital as a result of a crash at the intersection of Fifth...
‘Holy moly!’ Pittsburgh woman’s Jeopardy! win streak continues; tops $79,000
A Pittsburgh homemaker is a Jeopardy! winning machine, cruising to her fourth consecutive victory as a contestant on Friday’s show. Margaret Shelton, of the city’s East End, won for the fourth consecutive game on Friday. She earned another $21,500 to bring her total winnings to $79,700. Shelton had to stage...
‘Indefensible’ social media posts cited as Derry Area School Board asks member to step down
The Derry Area School Board this week issued a 7-0 no-confidence vote regarding one of its members, Sean Kemmerer, and asked him to step down. In a lengthy resolution, the board condemned social media posts by Kemmerer, indicating that statements he’s made “relating to women and girls, people of faith...
Pitt professor in Ukraine scrambling to survive amid war with RussiaVideo
A University of Pittsburgh associate professor of economics is doing his best to stay alive in his native country as Russian President Vladimir Putin wages war on Ukraine. Tymofiy Mylovanov is a Ukrainian citizen who splits time between Pittsburgh and Kyiv where he is president of the Kyiv School of...
Motorcyclist, 45, critically injured in 2-vehicle crash in Harrison
A motorcyclist was critically injured Friday when his bike collided with the rear of an SUV near the Walmart plaza off Freeport Road, according to Allegheny County Police. The crash occurred at the intersection of Freeport Road and Evergreen Drive, county police said. First responders found the 45-year-old motorcyclist suffered...
Pittsburgh’s Art Commission wants more public input on Fern Hollow Bridge rebuild
Pittsburgh’s Art Commission has raised concerns that the process to replace the collapsed Fern Hollow Bridge might not include enough public input or consideration of the new bridge’s design. Because the work is being done under an emergency declaration, officials can bypass the Art Commission and other elements of public...
Elderly mother of Unity man suspected in ex’s disappearance pleads guilty to $9 fraud, gets no jail time
The 85-year-old mother of a Unity man authorities have called a person of interest in the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross pleaded guilty Friday in a conspiracy to swindle government benefits while her son was in jail on pending charges. Police said Almira Stanko, at her son’s direction, used his...
Sewickley Academy students stage protest following Thursday’s incident
A group of Sewickley Academy students who were turned away when they tried to deliver a petition demanding changes at the private school protested outside of the building on Friday morning. Some 60 students, parents and supporters of the group CARES — Collective Action for Representative Education at Sewickley —...
Man accused of killing Karli Short and their unborn child ordered to stand trialVideo
Percy Quinn Rees said the last time he saw his niece, 26-year-old Karli Short, they were watching television together. Or rather, he said, she was watching television. He wasn’t much interested in the program, but Short always had control of the remote. Rees spoke of those moments Friday during a...
Fitzgerald seeks to appoint former warden to Allegheny County Jail board
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has nominated a man who spent his career in corrections and once served as the county’s interim warden to be a citizen representative on the Jail Oversight Board. The county announced the nomination of William Stickman III to the board last month, and the issue...
‘People’s Convoy’ passes through Westmoreland County en route to D.C. trucker rally
Hundreds of people converged Friday afternoon along Interstate 70 in New Stanton and at the eastbound ramps onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike to cheer on a large trucker convoy rolling toward Washington, D.C., for a weekend rally to protest covid-19 restrictions — which have been eased or eliminated in large part...
Pennsylvania student scores fell, delayed test results show
Student scores on Pennsylvania standardized tests fell sharply last year in most categories, although state education officials cautioned the numbers were so distorted by pandemic conditions that they are of limited use for comparison to previous years — particularly regarding statewide trends. The Education Department on Friday released results of...
Regent Square event merges litter, fashion and craft beer — for good cause
While there are litter walks, fashion shows and craft beer parties, Allegheny Cleanways has combined all three for an event Saturday in Pittsburgh’s Regent Square. The confab of events isn’t as unlikely as it seems. Anyone who volunteers to pick up litter, especially in colder or wet weather, has to...
Penn State is relaxing its face mask policy across most campuses
With much of Pennsylvania now experiencing a decline in covid-19 cases, Penn State announced that it planned to officially relax its policy on face masks come Monday. According to the university, face masks will no longer be required in many indoor settings starting Monday — although the requirement will remain...
Gasoline nears historic high in Western Pa., topping $4 per gallon in some places
Gasoline now costs more than $4 per gallon at some local stations, thanks to an overnight price spike of about 13 cents per gallon. The abrupt jump, after weeks of steady price increases, is something not usually seen, even in times of economic uncertainty. “That’s very drastic and a direct...
Strong job growth points to covid’s fading grip on economy
In a buoyant sign for the U.S. economy, businesses stepped up their hiring last month as omicron faded and more Americans ventured out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels despite surging inflation. Employers added a robust 678,000 jobs in February, the largest monthly total since July, the Labor Department...
Russia insists it won’t occupy Ukraine; Convoy outside Kyiv still stalled
KYIV, Ukraine — A top Russian diplomat insisted Friday that his country will not occupy Ukraine. “The goal is very clear: Denazification and demilitarization,” Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s ambassador in Geneva, said of the invasion — which he called a “special military operation.” “We are not going to stay in Ukraine...
Senior School classes canceled after incident at Sewickley Academy administrative offices
Classes at the Sewickley Academy Senior School were canceled Friday following a day of chaos at the school. Police were called to the private school in Edgeworth Thursday after a student group called CARES – Collective Action for Representative Education at Sewickley – and several parents attempted to meet with...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: March 4-6
It’s the first weekend of March. Here are some ways to spend it. Home & Garden Show The 40th annual Duquesne Light Co. Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show opens this weekend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. More than...
